According to a May report from the Joint Economic Committee, that would cause premiums to increase for individuals that remain covered there. And third, the AHCA could also make it harder for some people to gain coverage because of pre-existing conditions. “(The AHCA) would devastate rural communities, including increasing the number of uninsured, stripping $839 billion from Medicaid, threatening rural hospital closures and destabilizing individual marketplaces,” Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-New Mexico, ranking minority staff member on the Joint Economic Committee, said in a recent statement.
The Trump administration's promises to revive the coal industry and reinvigorate the fossil fuel industry more broadly are not the only things standing in the way of renewable energy. A new report released today from the Democratic staff of the Joint Economic Committee outlines several market and policy barriers:
More than 3.3 million jobs stand to be created over the next decade to implement energy-efficiency upgrades, according to the report from Democrats on the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. With 2.2 million people employed in the energy efficiency sector in 2016, this sector already represents a sizeable portion of the national energy economy. And the employment numbers are on the upswing. Energy-efficiency businesses forecast 13 percent growth this year alone -- almost double the 7 percent growth seen from 2015 to 2016.
The opioid epidemic was the subject of Congress’s Joint Economic Committee hearing last week. New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat, is the ranking member of that committee. He spoke with KUNM about the hearing and the prospects for behavioral health in the Republican health care replacement bill.
Jun 09 2017
Think Progress - Trump’s cuts to energy efficiency will cost jobs and taxpayer money, report finds
Democrats on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee studied the energy efficiency sector to determine its impact on economic growth. The researchers found that the two federal programs, Energy Star and the Weatherization Assistance Program, contribute to job growth and make it easier for customers to invest in energy efficiency products and upgrades. In his fiscal-year 2018 budget proposal, Trump called for the elimination of both Energy Star and the Weatherization Assistance Program. These programs enjoy bipartisan support and provide strong benefits to residential and business customers across the country, especially in rural areas where Trump won the presidency with a large majority of votes.
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee, said President Trump’s policies have hurt job growth. “After more than 130 days in office, President Trump has yet to show us he is serious about creating jobs and raising wages across the country. Rather, he has pushed for policies that will only hinder economic growth: a disaster of a health care plan that will kick millions off their health insurance, a budget that threatens working families, and reckless practices by his administration that only endanger the economic security of every American while he benefits,” Heinrich said.
Jun 05 2017
Casper Star-Tribune (Wyoming) - Wyoming parents pay less for child care but still feel sticker shock
Infant care in Wyoming costs $9,110 a year, below the national average of $10,476, according to the report, released by Sen. Martin Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat and the ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee. Wyoming families spent 13 percent of their income on infant care. For a single mother, infant care e ats up 30 percent of her income on average, the report states. Nationally, 15 percent of a family’s income and 42 percent of a single mother’s income is spent on child care.
“After more than 130 days in office, President Trump has yet to show us he is serious about creating jobs and raising wages across the country,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), ranking member of the Joint Economic Committee. “Rather, he has pushed for policies that will only hinder economic growth: a disaster of a healthcare plan that will kick millions off their health insurance, a budget that threatens working families, and reckless practices by his administration that only endanger the economic security of every American while he benefits," Heinrich said. Still, job gains averaged 121,000 over the past three months, well above the 80,000 needed to lower the jobless rate.
Jun 01 2017
Salon - Here’s how much economic damage President Trump’s alleged corruption could be doing
Democrats in the Joint Economic Committee say that Trump is “likely doing economic harm” by “flaunting the laws and conventions of good governance that made the United States a cornerstone of the global economy” in a staff report. The report, called “The Costs of Corruption to the American Economy,” includes as specific examples the president implementing policies that specifically help his business interests (such as rolling back Clean Water Act protections), regularly visitinghis commercial real estate properties and clubs in ways that give them publicity and thus increase their revenue and being awarded Chinese trademarks at the same time that he began to honor the “One China” policy.
“Usually in health care, you’re providing health care; you’re improving it,” Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa, said at a recent news conference on Capitol Hill alongside other Democrats from the Joint Economic Committee. “This is a scheme to give very wealthy people even more. It’s repeal and decimate.”
